Theresa May has criticized the candy giant for supposedly removing references to Easter in its annual egg hunt event. Cadbury and charity collaborator the National Trust have called the allegations "simply not true."
Image: picture alliance/zb
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British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that it was "absolutely ridiculous" for chocolate maker Cadbury not to mention Easter while promoting its nationwide egg hunts. Speaking to private broadcaster ITV, the clergyman's daughter echoed similar comments made by the Archbishop of York.
Cadbury is working in tandem with the National Trust, a conservation organization, to hold 300 events across the United Kingdom at the charity's various public properties.
The Daily Telegraph claimed on Tuesday that the word had been "airbrushed" from the promotion, although the word appears multiple times on websites and posters advertising the event. The main website URL for the hunt begins with "easter."
However, on one webpage, the National Trust had not written the word "Easter" alongside "Egg Hunt," instead using the name Cadbury, which is sponsoring the event. The organization later amended the page.
May slammed the supposed sidelining of Easter as a religious event. "Easter's very important. It's important to me, it's a very important festival for the Christian faith for millions across the world," May, the daughter of a pastor, said in the interview. "So I think what the National Trust is doing is frankly just ridiculous."
The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, said it was "spitting on the grave" of Cadbury's founder, the Quaker philanthropist John Cadbury.
Many Britons on social media were angry that May would be so upset about a chocolate egg hunt when she was en route to Saudi Arabia, a prolific importer of British weapons and nation known for its human rights abuses and oppression of women, where strict laws govern the practice of Christianity.
Brexit crusader Nigel Farage also voiced his outrage at Cadbury on Twitter, saying that the UK had to "defend our Judeo-Christian culture and that means Easter," adding a slice of Judaism to the holiest day in the Christian calendar which is not celebrated by Jews.
Both Cadbury and the National Trust denied claims it was trying to downplay the significance of Easter.
"A casual glance at our website will see dozens of references to Easter throughout," a spokesman for the National Trust told ITV. At the same time, a Cadbury representative said that it was "simply not true" that they had removed the word Easter from promotional materials.
"Each year our Easter campaigns have a different name and this year our seasonal campaign is called the Cadbury's Great British Egg Hunt," she said.
Surprising stories hatching from eggs
Especially over Easter, our mind connects eggs with chickens. But the large number of animals hatching includes fascinating species, from gigantic birds to lizards called dragons. DW presents some surprising egg stories.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/PA Peter Byrne
Gold medal for breeding
The ostrich is the largest living species of bird - and the fastest. Females only mate with one male, but males fertilize several females. The dominant female lays her eggs on a communal nest, followed by all the others - around 4 secondary females with up to 15 eggs each. The weakest eggs will be then discarded by the dominant female, who will incubate them together with the male.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Wittek
The weight of motherhood
Kiwis are not only peculiar for being flightless and the symbol of a whole country - New Zealand - they are also worth admiring for laying the largest egg of any species in the world (in relation to body size). With a weight of up to half a kilogram, the egg occupies nearly the entire body of the bird, interfering with movement and even breathing. Newborn chicks are quickly independent.
Other parents can't compete with the arduous annual journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica. These animals travel between 50 and 120 kilometers to reach their breeding colonies. The female can only lay one egg per year, which makes hatching a truly significant event. The Oscar prize-winning documentary "March of the Penguins" makes us feel this as if we were in the penguin's skin.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Careful with that egg!
Considered the biggest birds that ever existed - 3 meters tall and half a ton heavy - elephant birds went extinct four centuries ago. However, one of its impressive eggs was found in 2015, and its size honored its reputation: 200 times bigger than a chicken egg. This image compares the egg with an adult kiwi skeleton. If you decide to pick this one up, better be careful!
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Not just for the birds
Chicken eggs are present in our daily lives. So we rarely would ask: Which came first, the snake or the egg? We often don't realize that many other animals hatch from eggs - or are "oviparous." Reptiles such as snakes are among them. Although the majority of snakes abandon their eggs after laying, the female python never leaves them until they hatch - as in the photo above.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Troubled turtles
Sea turtles have lately been struggling to lay their eggs due to several factors such as climate change, illegal trade or tourism. They swim long distances to reach beach spawning grounds, and exit the water to lay eggs in the sand. But if they are disturbed by humans - through light or sounds, for instance - they could go back to the sea without laying eggs.
Image: Turtle SOS Cabo Verde
Curiosities from Mother Earth
At first sight, the image of this midwife toad may be unpleasant, until we understand that what it carries on its back are only eggs and not some strange disease. The animal is an exception among toads and frogs: Midwife toad mating doesn't take place in water, but rather on land, and the male is the one in charge of carrying the eggs for around 30 days before laying them.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/ L. Webbink
Not-so-romantic soiree
The Komodo dragon would have been little during the time of the dinosaurs - but today the largest species of lizard is nearly considered to be a monster. Its mating represents the antithesis of an evening full of gentle caresses. The winner of a violent fight between males jumps on a resisting female to try and copulate without getting hurt. Despite their roughness, they do produce cute babies!
